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New Louisiana law puts life-saving drug in hands of first responders to reverse heroin overdoses

moreno heroin.jpg

Lawmakers and those who testified on behalf of a bill that would expand access to a drug that reverses the effects of opiate overdoses discuss the legislation outside the House Health and Welfare Commitee meeting Wednesday, April 2, 2014. Pictured from left are Rep. Bernard LeBas, D-Ville Platte; State Fire Marshal Butch Browning; Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans; East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. Williams "Beau" Clark; and Louisiana Fireman's Association President Kenny Hunt. Gov. Bobby Jindal signed the bill into law on Wednesday, May 28, 2014. (Emily Lane, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

Paramedics, firefighters and police officers will soon have authority to carry and administer a life-saving drug to people suffering from heroin overdoses.

Amid soaring increases in heroin use and deadly overdoses, Rep. Helena Moreno, D-New Orleans, sponsored a bill granting first responders authority to dispense naloxone. Gov. Bobby Jindal's signed the bill into law Wednesday (May 28), his office announced Thursday.

Moreno's bill expands access to Naloxone, also called by its brand name Narcan, which is a prescription drug commonly administered by emergency room doctors to reverse the effects of opiate overdoses. Providing first responders with the drug would give overdose victims a better chance of survival, since minutes are critical in the midst of a potentially fatal overdose.

It's likely that law enforcement and firefighters in more heavily populated cities, as opposed to rural areas, will take advantage of the new law, Louisiana State Fire Marshal Butch Browning said. Departments that choose to carry and administer the drug would adopt training and protocols for its use.

In southeast Louisiana, at least 144 people died of heroin overdose, Moreno noted during a committee hearing.

A related bill awaiting Jindal's signature gives legal immunity to witnesses of drug overdoses who call for help. The Louisiana Legislature gave full passage May 20 to legislation dubbed the "Good Samaritan" law, which its sponsor Sen. Sharon Weston Broome, D-Baton Rouge, says could help save lives.